Rangers top line must clean up defensive game
It is not often in his New York Rangers career that top-line center Mika Zibanejad has registered a minus-4 rating in a single game. But it happened in their 6-5 overtime loss to the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday.
The Rangers’ first line of Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, and Reilly Smith was held off the score sheet despite New York scoring five goals, and were on the ice for the majority of Utah’s goals. They were a combined minus-7.
“Not speaking about any one player in particular, but it was off the mark (against Utah) with regard to some of the ways we defended,” coach Peter Laviolette said Monday morning. “Most of the clips you can’t just point to one person and say, ‘Well, this guy made a mistake’. It was a group effort on what we could have done better, and (Zibanejad) was caught out there for a few of those.”
One of “those” was the game-deciding goal in OT. Zibanejad was put in a tough spot and had to decide between covering a wide-open Mikhail Sergachev at the point or pressuring Clayton Keller behind the net. He chose to slide back towards Sergachev, leaving Keller to walk out alone and roof a backhander past Igor Shesterkin for the OT winner.
That added another minus to his ledger, even though the entire line couldn’t be faulted since it was a 3-on-3 situation.
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Mika Zibanejad looking to ‘build that chemistry’ on first line
According to Natural Stat Trick, Zibanejad has been on the ice for 26 scoring chances for, 22 against, and is a minus-3 in all situations. In high danger situations he’s been on the ice for 12 chances for, seven against — but has been outscored 3-1. Translation: Zibanejad and the first line are getting more chances yet are being outscored by their opponents.
Of course, not all of the goals against can be blamed on Zibanejad. The first line still needs to gel together as a unit, create some chemistry and shore up some of these defensive lapses sooner rather than later.
“I think we’re right there,” Zibanejad explained. “I think there are a lot of good things that we have, and we also continue talking. The only way we can get better is obviously working at it … I think this could be something really good; hopefully with some time we build that chemistry and we have a different conversation in a couple months.”
The trio of Zibanejad-Kreider-Smith showed promising signs early in the preseason and in training camp. They also played well in the season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins, a dominating 6-0 win. While the performance against Utah was concerning to say the least, there are 80 more games to play in this young season.
“The first game against Pittsburgh I thought they were real good, that line,” Laviolette said. “They had some really good moments in the exhibition as well where their line was good, the numbers were good, they were generating.”
Speaking of generating, Zibanejad has been held pointless through two games in which the Rangers have scored 11 goals. As if the defensive issues were concerning enough, his offensive play could become more of an issue if this trend continues. As the first-line center and a player who scored 91 points two seasons ago, Zibanejad needs to get back to his scoring ways.
“You don’t want to play reckless,” Zibanejad said. “It’s trying to remember who you are as a player and what has made you successful and what you have to do. I think that doesn’t always go your way, but you just have to keep working. Keep coming to the rink and keep working, that’s all I can do.”
Zibanejad’s next chance to get on the score sheet and shore up the defensive side of his game arrives Monday night when the Rangers host the Detroit Red Wings.
“I’m sure Mika wants to create (offense). I do think his line is creating,” Laviolette said. “I think it’s a matter of time before he finds the score sheet.”
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